Gastropods. Surely, there's a mistake in this name. I understand that people eat snails. Some even claim to enjoy them. But how are slugs bannered by the same "gastro-" prefix? There are over 400 living species of gastropods. Only a minute fraction of them have invaded my patch, but in such numbers this summer I spend part of each morning relocating them across the road.

However, now it's cocktail hour in the garden. When we're not weeding, relocating legless pests, or nurturing lettuces, my wife and I are full-time historians of drink. I also work as a distiller at Sipsmith. Hence, much of our garden is largely devoted to drink. Angelica, licorice, irises, coriander, lemons, and juniper are all gin botanicals. Strawberries, cherries, damsons, currants (white, red and black), lemon verbena, rhubarb, borage, mint, cranberries, wormwood, and many others all find their way into liqueurs and other potable concoctions.

It's raspberry season now. One of the canes we planted two years ago has taken off, sending branches three metres across the irises, and bristling with berries among the thorns. A few hundred grammes – a nice handful, a punnet – combined with a bottle of good gin makes a magnificent and nearly forgotten drink: raspberry gin. (Bad gin won't be miraculously improved by flavouring any more than bad chocolate will improve in cake baking.)

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Place the jar away from direct sunlight and leave it to steep. The colour from the fruit is heavier than the alcohol and will remain down around the fruit while the gin in the upper half of the jar will remain clear up to the end. Resist the urge to shake it. It is not necessary. Besides, it clouds the spirit with tiny hairs and other bits from the berries. If you feel that you must, gently turn the jar upside down once or twice after a few days.

Unlike sloe gin, this is a fast infusion: no more than two weeks or it can pick up off-flavours from the spent berries. You can simply use a sieve to remove the fruit as you funnel it into a clean, glass bottle.

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If you want to ensure every tiny particle is removed, line the funnel with an unbleached coffee filter and have more patience than we do. At this point, your raspberry gin is finished and will hold the fresh berry flavour and bright rosé colour for years. We tasted our 2002 in 2006 and it still showed what a marvelous summer that had been for berries when tasted against the 2003. Experiments aside it makes a lovely gin and tonic, and in winter it is delicious in hot gin punch.

Want to turn this fruit-filled spirit into a liqueur? Add simple syrup to taste. Combine equal parts sugar and water in an empty bottle. Seal it. Shake. Let it rest. Shake again. Within 10 or 20 minutes the sugar will dissolve and be ready to use. You can even add a touch of sweetness just to highlight the fruit without going so far as to turn it into a liqueur.

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Another ingredient we make for immediate gratification is raspberry shrub. Most of the recipes that hearken back to the Georgian or Victorian eras advise the berries be steeped in vinegar for a few days before the mixture is processed. After numerous batches, we've determined that this just slows up what should be fast and easy.

Place 500g fresh raspberries and 480ml distilled vinegar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 2 minutes to soften the fruit. Strain the mixture through a sieve, pressing out as much liquid as possible without pushing seeds and skins through. Return to the pot, adding 250 gr caster sugar (or more to taste). Bring to a boil and simmer for an additional 2 minutes. Remove from heat and allow the liquid to cool. Store in clean glass bottles and refrigerate until ready to use.

When the mood strikes, pour 30ml of Raspberry Shrub into a frosty-cold champagne flute. Then slowly fill the glass with 120ml chilled prosecco or brut champagne. Garnish with 3 fresh raspberries. (Mixed with sparkling water instead of prosecco also makes a satisfying non-alcoholic refreshment.)

We revel in our berry harvests. And with this year's bumper crop we now have Raspberry Gin for the holidays and beyond; raspberry liqueur for sipping or making the original 1933 Cosmopolitan cocktail made with 60 l gin, 15ml fresh lime juice, 15ml curaçao and 30ml raspberry liqueur; and Raspberry Shrub for toasting these last precious days of summer.